Wednesday, February 22, 2017

All of the Reports are now published for February's "Corporate Policy and Strategy" Committee; it meets at 10am, next Tuesday, 28th February.The relevant paperwork is now in the public domain: the main Agenda can be found here ...... and all of the individual Reports can be accessed via Committee Papers on-Line (CPOL)as linked from here.Couple of Reports that may be of interest:

And, of course, as usual the "Corporate Policy and Strategy Committee" meetings are all webcast live - and thereafter archived!All available via here --- it's TV; but possibly not like you've ever seen before ;-)

Monday, February 20, 2017

I've got a short opinion-piece in the local Newspaper today, on the issue of 'political culture change' - for those interested, I'll reproduce the main text below ...

Coalition, cooperation and culture-change

I think you’d need to be inhabiting a wholly different world from the
one I live in, not to be aware that trust between the electorate and those of
us either elected, or employed, to serve that electorate, has broken down badly
in recent years.

And it was clear when we formed our local Labour/SNP coalition
administration in Edinburgh, following the last 2012 Scottish Council
Elections, that business as usual wasn’t an option; we had to change the way we
did things.

As an incoming Council Leader, I knew there was no time to waste in
ensuring that we had a clear, unambiguous programme for governance.

And not just as a Council Leader, but also as a ward councillor, and a
member of my local community, I understand the scale of the challenges that we
are all facing locally. Many communities are disengaged from local democracy;
Councils can seem like distant bureaucracies; and, as organisations, we
constantly struggle to manage significant funding reductions just as local
people are putting more and more demand on local services.

If Councils are going to survive in this context, and if communities are
going to thrive, then we all need to start doing things differently. We need to
work together, in genuine and equal partnership with local people, to make the most
of the strengths that lie in our communities. Most importantly, we must drive
real innovation, with local people at its core, if we are to face the
challenges ahead of us.

So – back in 2012, we agreed a clear set of some 53
commitments, in a new ‘Contract with the Capital’. That
contract was openly published, and within weeks, the ‘monitoring
against delivery’ of our promises was live and very visible via the
main Council website … and continues to be so, with six-monthly reports going
to Full Council Meetings.

And yes, Scottish Local Government had already changed
substantially, back in 2007, with the introduction of a proportional
voting-system: STV-PR with multi-Member wards. But that change was mostly in
terms of political make-up (structural change) … and deeper cultural change, in
the way politics was conducted, was clearly going to take a little longer; and
much more effort to instigate.

So, we also committed to becoming a ‘Co-operative Council’ – we wanted
to encourage not just local communities, but our many partners and those using
our services, to become more involved in how those services are planned,
managed and delivered.

That meant looking at new ways of delivering services but it also meant
co-operating with other agencies, other cities and crucially, the people of
Edinburgh: doing things with them and not doing things to
them.

And by way of example, that new approach to the way we
worked, and the way we engaged with others, has included some significant
actions in making the vision of a ‘Cooperative Council’ a reality:

We established the first Petitions Committee at the
Council. That Committee is chaired by a Member of Edinburgh’s Opposition, Green
Group. This has helped enable local residents to have an additional channel to
raise issues of concern, with their elected representatives, and directly with
the Council.

We completely overhauled our scrutiny function; and
established a new ‘Governance, Risk and Best Value Committee’; again Chaired by
a Member of Edinburgh’s Opposition, Conservative Group.

We also completely revised our budgetary process, which led
to the publication of draft budgets – for the first time in decades, in
Edinburgh – and further allowed several months of public consultation, each
year, all prior to setting any final budgets.

And last – but by no means least –we’re now webcasting (both
live and archived) all of our Full Council Meetings, and an increasing number
of our regular Committee Meetings. I’m now frequently challenged about previous
comments and commitments – and that has to be good for local democracy.

And I firmly believe that the co-operative principles of
empowerment, equal partnership, and collective action offer a positive route to
not simply survive through tough times, but to enable local communities to
thrive, supported by relevant and meaningful local public services.

The cumulative impact of all these considered-changes has been fairly
significant - and, I would argue, we have re-gained a renewed sense of
engagement with residents. There is a new political
narrative within the City Chambers here in Edinburgh; the political
culture (and not just the structures) has now, most definitely changed
--- and changed for the better.

Thank you for the honour and privilege you have
given me in electing me as Chair of the Co-operative Councils’ Innovation
Network. I have been involved with the Network since its earliest days
and look forward to playing my part now in shaping its future.

‘The
heart of a town lies in its people’

Our Stevenage motto sums up exactly why the
Co-operative Council model is so right for us and the way we work with our
community.

Stevenage New Town celebrated our 70th birthday in November last year, we were the
UKs first post-war new town, built to deal with the acute housing shortage
after the second world war. New Towns quickly focussed on building new
homes and providing the strong economies that brought good jobs.
Consequently, when the new residents moved to Stevenage they found little in
the way of community services. These early residents soon began to work
together to secure the services they needed and this spirit of co-operation is woven
into the fabric of Stevenage.

Seventy years later we face the greatest period of
change and uncertainty that we have seen in the post-war years, the aftermath
of long years of austerity that have seen public finance decimated, Brexit and
the complexity of Britain establishing a new identity, a turbulent political
world where the evolution of democracy and party politics seems to have been
replaced by a series of earthquakes, the relentless march of technology, and a
geopolitical situation which seems ever more uncertain and threatening.

So how do our co-operative values continue to shine
a light on today’s problems? How are they relevant, especially at our local
level, to creating places that work for the communities and people that live,
work and visit them and which harness the passion, commitment and ideals of our
communities to bring economic, environmental and social ‘dividends’. We
know that people respond most strongly to those things which most closely
affect their daily life. The area they live in, the health care,
education, housing, leisure and quality of environment that they are able to
access locally are all considered to be vital components in people’s perception
of quality of life. But the ability to influence decision-making on all of
those is vital too.

We know that for decades people have felt more
confident in their local council to take account of their views than they do of
Westminster politicians, but we must never be complacent about that -this
was part of the driving force behind setting up the Co-operative Councils’
Innovation Network. We want to reclaim the traditions of community
action, community engagement and civic empowerment which can transform
communities and which will help us deliver radical and innovative programmes
that are designed, led and delivered in partnership with communities and
therefore maximise the social benefit they bring. It has also always been
the purpose of the Network to share our developing good practice and to support
one another in our co-operative aims and values.

The vital thing about co-operative councils is that
they should, and will, look different around the country, because each place is
different. We have different challenges, histories and economies and
there is no one right answer to these. What we are doing in the network
is proposing some of the characteristics of Co-operative places, people
and public services. Please let us know what you think of these, they
will be stronger and more enduring if we all contribute to them.

In Stevenage we are coming to the end of our first
phase of a radical innovation in co-operative neighbourhood planning and
management. We were faced with a regeneration need in the local
neighbourhood centre which consisted of a row of dilapidated shops of which
only two of four were in use, poor quality housing above the shops, a pub which
had ceased to be viable and, although treasured by some community members, had
ever-dwindling custom and a building which required significant
investment. The neighbourhood centre also housed a well-used and well-run
community centre with an active committee but which also had some limitations
because of the nature of the building. As we began to consider how to
tackle these challenges, we were fortunate in that the local residents group
had increased in membership due to a project to refurbish three large
community-use squares. This group was keen to get involved in the
planning and delivery of the regeneration project. We also had the
benefit of a local, and very active group, ‘Friends of Hampson Park’ who were
helping improve the environment in the local Hampson Park.

The other happy coincidence in this project was
that one of our three excellent local councillors for Pin Green has a
background in town planning and was able to help with the facilitation of the
co-operative neighbourhood planning process that ensued.

It is a feature of co-operative council engagement
with communities that they must be able to effect change. The Council had
envisaged that the Community Centre would stay on its original site as the
regeneration happened around it. But our community had other ideas.
They requested the community centre be rebuilt on a new site in Hampson Park
and extended to include additional space and a coffee bar for park users.

So three years on from the very start of the
planning and via a wonderful process that has involved so many groups,
individuals and the local businesses, the area is now transformed. We
have two new purpose-built shops which face the main road (instead of being
tucked around behind the pub where no-one could see them and there was no
passing trade), we have delivered eight new council homes already with another
twenty-two to come early this year. The community centre has been built
on its new site and is already thriving. In addition to this the
community engagement and dedication to the park has earned Hampson Park a
coveted ‘Green Flag’ status, we have been able to refurbish the children’s park
and build a brand new open-access Skate Park on the site for all ages to enjoy,
very significant community dividends which benefit everyone in Pin Green.

Most importantly, we have learned so much through
our engagement with our community. Friends of Hampson Park, and our other
community activists wanted to reach out to a much wider group of residents so
they organised a huge ‘Teddy Bears Picnic’ in the summer where we were able to
encourage the 700 people who attended to contribute to the planning exercise as
well as enjoying the many family activities on offer. Young parents often
find it difficult to attend evening meetings because of other commitments and
this was a great way to engage them as well as other residents who work shifts
or prefer not to go out in the evenings.

We continue our co-operative work in Pin Green and
this year we will roll out what we have learned to two new wards. To help
us manage the increased input we now get from residents about their area, we
have engaged a small group of neighbourhood wardens who will work with our
community and their local partners like the neighbourhood policing team,
community centre manager, local businesses etc to ensure the council plays our
part in getting things done.

Friends of Hampson Park, our ‘Green Space
Volunteers’ have won a ‘Pride of Stevenage’ award for their work, our residents
forum has won two national awards and both are now sharing their experience and
the expertise they have developed to help other areas of Stevenage.

It has been a huge pleasure to participate in this
project which has been the embodiment of ‘Co-operation in Action’.

Monday, February 13, 2017

At the end of local budget-week, my colleague Joan Griffiths, has drafted a short piece on 'Edinburgh's Housing priorities' --- I'll reproduce the text below, for those interested:

Edinburgh's Housing priorities

The Council passed its
2017/18 budget last Thursday, which included an allocation of £29.1m to be
spent on affordable homes in the capital. The Council also plans an increase in
council house rents of 2% in the new financial year.

The Council further confirmed
that they have invested over £600m in new affordable homes, £120m on improving
the quality of existing homes, along with energy efficiency improvements, as
well as bathroom and kitchen upgrades.

But the ongoing pressures in
the housing market, and the urgent need for more affordable homes in our city,
are both well documented.

Here at the City of Edinburgh
Council, we are meeting these challenges head-on, with the HRA (Housing Revenue Account) Budget Strategy
setting out an expansion and acceleration of the Council’s house-building
programme.

However, building new homes
is not enough on its own – we are also committed to creating great places for
people to live and prosper. We are serious about tackling inequality from all
angles. The strategy looks holistically at tenants’ outgoings and seeks to
invest in homes and services to reduce overall household costs and improve our
tenants’ quality of life.

The 2017/18 Housing Budget
consultation showed overwhelming support from tenants for the plan, with 4 out
of 5 respondents supporting at least a 2% rent increase in order to deliver
this strategy.

I’ve been in the role of
Housing Leader for nearly four months and am really proud of the progress being
made by the housing service. Our strategy is to keep rent levels stable
whilst delivering the most innovative and ambitious housinginvestment
programme in the country, and – critically – delivering on tenant priorities.

During 2017/18 the Council will deliver several key projects
benefitting citizens, including beginning construction on an additional
school in South Edinburgh and a new Meadowbank sports centre, as well as
increasing spending on roads and pavements.

By focusing on transformational change and strong financial management the Council has set a balanced budget for 2017/18 and an indicative balanced budget for 2018/19 despite a rising demand for services and severe financial constraint.

This follows the approval of a four-year budget framework in January
2016, which focuses on the services that matter the most to people, as
indicated by consultation with the public.

Councillor Alasdair Rankin, Convener of the Finance and Resources Committee, said: “In 2016 we approved a four-year budget framework which drew on feedback and ideas from the public, and this year’s budget continues to reflect residents’ priorities.

“Despite an uncertain financial climate we have set a balanced budget
for Edinburgh, as well as securing funds for several major projects
throughout the city.”

Councillor Bill Cook, Vice-Convener of the Finance and Resources
Committee, said: “It’s no secret that it’s a challenging time for the
Council, as with local authorities across the country, but I’m pleased
that thanks to prudent financial management we have been able to
successfully set the budget while continuing to look out for citizens’
best interests.”

While this year’s budget has been set against a backdrop of increasing
service demand and continuing real-terms funding reductions - resulting
in a need to make significant additional savings - an extra £12m towards
the Council’s budget was announced last week (Thursday, 2 February).
This will allow more spending in areas such as roads and pavements,
building maintenance and addressing the impacts of rising school rolls,
as well as reductions to planned savings across libraries in 2017/18.

In addition to income linked to the Scotland-wide increases in Council
Tax for higher-banded properties, extra resources will be made available
to the Council through a 3% increase in Council Tax – the first such
rise in nine years. Feedback has shown the public to be generally in
favour of a rise in Council Tax to enable the preservation of essential
services.

Investment in new projects approved today (Thursday) include the £12m
refurbishment of North Bridge, £7.8m to address the costs from rising
school rolls and an extra £2.5m to spend on roads and pavements. In
addition, Councillors agreed an updated 2016-20 Business Plan for the
Council.

Members also received the results of a period of engagement held towards
the end of 2016, when the public was asked to submit ideas and feedback
on how the Council can deliver services more effectively, based on
budget commitments agreed previously.

Responses submitted across a range of channels focused on the delivery
of library and community services, online resources and leisure
activities, as well as ideas on street cleansing, road maintenance and
cycle infrastructure. These will now influence improvement plans for
each of the city’s Localities.

This year the Council has a budget of £968m and will continue to
prioritise investment in key frontline services and outcomes while
making savings of £38m.

Independent report into school closures published

The School Closures Report (PDF
3.8MB) was commissioned by Chief Executive Andrew Kerr last summer
after the collapse of a wall at Oxgangs Primary School and subsequent
closure of 17 schools.

It was led by respected construction and procurement industry expert,
Professor John Cole CBE, who will present his report at a special City
of Edinburgh Council meeting today.

The inquiry had nine remits, which included:

reasons for the wall collapse;

use of private finance for building projects;

the Council’s role in providing quality assurance of the buildings;

contractual arrangements between the Council and Edinburgh Schools
Partnership (ESP) who manage and run the schools on the Council’s
behalf; and

any recommendations for the Council, other bodies and the wider industry.

Professor Cole interviewed a wide range of people for the report
including: representatives from those who built the schools, ESP,
architects, structural engineers, parents, teachers and former and
current Council staff from various departments. He also took evidence
from professionals and experts in the procurement and construction
industries.

Some of the key findings from the report, which runs to over 250 pages, include:

the collapse of the wall was due to poor construction and inadequate supervision;

insufficient independent quality assurance and poor record keeping by the Council and ESP;

the alternative education arrangements put in place for over 8,300 pupils was a ‘remarkable feat’;

the issues identified in Edinburgh are likely to be more widespread

The report contains many recommendations for the Council and other
bodies, both public and private, as well as the construction industry.
These relate to areas such as: procurement, construction, training and
recruitment, the role of the building standards and independent
certifiers and the sharing of information.

The Chief Executive will now draw up an action plan specific to the
Council recommendations so that they are all addressed individually.

Andrew Kerr said: “Professor Cole commands respect in both
construction and procurement fields which has been borne out in the
thoroughness and quality of his independent investigation and the report
before Council today.

“We set out clear and thorough terms of reference so he could
identify the reasons for the wall collapse at Oxgangs and the subsequent
building faults that forced us to close the 17 schools.

“The report pulls no punches and makes clear what went wrong, the
reasons for it and where responsibility lay. Clearly there are lessons
for the Council and I will now be drawing up an action plan to take our
recommendations forward to ensure everyone can have confidence in the
safety of all of our buildings.

“The Council, our public and private sector partners both in Scotland
and across the United Kingdom, need to take on board the issues raised
and address the concerns highlighted in the report as they have
far-reaching implications for the construction industry.”

He added: “As always, our overriding priority was the safety of the
pupils and staff and I am pleased that Professor Cole recognises that
our decision to close the schools was well founded and that he
acknowledged the scale of the alternative educational arrangements
required – and ultimately delivered.

“I want to thank parents once again for their patience last year and
the outstanding efforts of teachers and other Council staff who pulled
out all the stops to ensure our children’s education could continue.

“I would also like to thank Professor Cole and his team for their
hard work on this important inquiry. We must ensure that the highest
possible standards are adhered to when it comes to future construction
projects and ensure that nothing like this can happen again.”

The Council has already started a full survey of all buildings across
the estate which will be complete by the end of the year. This will be
followed by a five year rolling programme of regular follow up surveys.

Issues raised in the report regarding ‘fire stopping’ in the 17
schools are being rectified and the Council has employed a fire safety
expert to ensure all buildings remain safe for occupancy.

Additional information:

With a 30 year career in public service, Professor Cole, an architect
by profession, has specialised in seeking to improve the quality of
design, procurement and construction of new buildings in the public
sector. In so doing he has been responsible for the development,
dissemination and implementation of a series of innovative and highly
successful procurement models.

Major infrastructure projects with which he is currently involved
include the delivery of a new £180m educational campus to provide six
secondary schools on a single shared site in Omagh and the development
of a new £600m paediatric hospital in Dublin. In both cases he was
appointed by the respective Ministers in Northern Ireland and the
Republic of Ireland to bring his expertise to these innovative and
complex projects.

For budget-week, my colleague Cammy Day, has drafted a short piece on 'prioritising Education' --- I'll reproduce the text below, for those interested:

Prioritising education

Prioritising education to ensure both schools
and services for vulnerable children are protected in next year’s budget
is a key target for the Capital Coalition.

Despite the severe financial
challenges from rising demand for Council services and this year’s Local
Government Settlement I’m delighted we have set out a clear strategy for
achieving this.

It’s
important we focus our investment where it is needed most which is why we are
allocating £6.7m to tackle
rising school rolls. In the past four years we have delivered an additional 74
modern, high quality class spaces in our primary school estate to ensure our
children’s first class education continues.

Building new schools is another key area so
there is £12.7m set aside for a new primary school in south Edinburgh. We have
already seen the benefits of brand new schools with state-of-the-art campuses
at James Gillespie’s and Portobello High Schools
opening in the past six months.

We have set aside £16.3m for capital projects
this year including the new Boroughmuir High School, replacement of St
Crispin’s Special School and a new St John’s RC Primary School. In total over
£100m has been invested in Wave 3 schools over the term of the Capital
Coalition.

And it’s not just our schools where we are
focusing our resources. Just last week I joined excited nursery pupils as work
started on their early years centre in Granton – just one of half a dozen new
nurseries being funded by the Council this year as part of a £6m investment.

Our
exams results improve year on year and the Edinburgh Guarantee has supported
2,127 additional young people into jobs and apprenticeships with over 500
employers large and small.

Additional
savings identified in the budget means that £2.9m of pressures within
Communities and Families have been addressed so additional revenue can now
remain in both fostering and adoption services.

So
despite the continued pressures I believe we are sending out a clear message
that the Capital Coalition is putting schools and our vulnerable children at
the heart of budget planning.

Tuesday, February 07, 2017

For this budget-week, my colleague Lesley Hinds, has drafted a short piece on 'the future of transport in Edinburgh' --- I'll reproduce the text below, for those interested:

The future of transport in Edinburgh

We
are committed to serving the public’s needs, and over the years we have
increasingly asked residents which services they feel are most important. Time
and again we are told by people how much the condition of the city’s roads and
pavements matter to them, so it’s something we take very seriously.

This
year we have managed to secure an extra £2.5m to invest in our streets on top
of a planned £18.5m – meaning we’ve got £21m to spend on maintaining and
enhancing the public realm for everyone.

Spending
on transport infrastructure should benefit all users – whether they are
drivers, public transport passengers, cyclists or pedestrians. As ever, we are
committed to maintaining our roads and pavements to an acceptable standard. I
know how frustrating surfaces riddled with potholes or cracks can be, and we
will continue to address that under this year’s budget, focusing on a new,
preventative approach which will see more work carried out and the slower
deterioration of surfaces.

We’ll
also be able to tackle some of the major ongoing projects like the £400,000
resurfacing of Brighton Place in Portobello, the replacement of setts on
Frederick Street, for which we’ve budgeted £1m, and the transformation of Home
Street, improving the area for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.

This
year the proportion of the Transport budget spend on cycling will rise to 10%,
reflecting our aspiration to make Edinburgh a cycle friendly city and enabling
the Council to continue spending on projects like the City Centre West to East
Link, which we hope will open up travel by bike to many more people.

In
Edinburgh we are making real strides to promote active and sustainable travel
and the impacts of this are clear, with car ownership falling, a continued
increase in the number of people travelling by foot and an estimated 7.3% of
journeys to work made by bike – up 50% from 2011.

What’s
more, our award-winning public transport system is carrying more passengers
than ever – Lothian Buses transported more than 121 million people in 2015,
while nearly 5.4 million passengers used Edinburgh Trams in its second year of
operation.

We
really are looking to the future of transport in Edinburgh, which is clear from
our investment to redesign streets in favour of walking, cycling and public transport.
That said, we recognise the needs of all road users, and are always exploring
efficient, sustainable ways of making the journey smoother for everyone.

Monday, February 06, 2017

Asmentioned
during last week, this coming Thursday (9th February) is the '2017/18 Budget' Council Meeting - and, as usual, we published our final Draft Coalition Budget
Motion, a week prior to the meeting: you can stillread
it in full here ...

... the
actual meeting starts at 10am on Thursday, and all of the detailed reports
are now up on Committee Papers On-Line (CPOL), and you can access the main agenda directly here; and
each of the individual reports separately via this link.

There's been a significant amount of speculation about the last-minute changes to the Draft Scottish Government Budget, as debated in Holyrood at the end of last week ...

... well - to be completely factual about all of this; please do check out paragraph 3.4 of this 'Revenue Budget Framework' report, which is going to the Council Meeting on Thursday. As you'll read - that paragraph makes it abundantly clear that the City of Edinburgh Council was about to receive some £37.1million less in revenue this year from the Scottish Government, than we received last year.

... well, the draft figures have now changed - and the revenue reduction we're now receiving from the Scottish Government is £27.1million this year, in comparison to last year.

Of course, I welcome that change - but let's be clear ...

... this is still the worst settlement since devolution, and those MSPs who voted through Stage 1 of the Scottish Budget at Holyrood last week were approving a year-on-year reduction of £27.1million in revenue for the City of Edinburgh Council.

I think the motion (as re-produced below) speaks for itself ... and it will now be debated at the Budget Day Council Meeting, 10am on Thursday 9th February, to be webcast here.

There's just no doubt that, for the whole 18-years I've been a local Councillor, this is the most challenging budget we've ever had to set - I blogged about this being the worst revenue settlement since devolution, in early December, when the Scottish Government announced its draft plans.And despite last-minute changes, that blogpost, sadly, remains true --- we're still receiving some £27.1million less revenue from the Scottish Government this year, than last, to spend on services.Of course, I understand this is all a choice the Scottish Government is perfectly entitled to make - but what's so devastatingly galling is that other choices were available, which would have completely negated the need for any year-on-year revenue reduction.

As a Council, on the receiving end of these Government-choices, we'll get on with trying to ensure we deliver services to the very best of our ability, within the finances that are available to us ...... but please spare me any further spin about this being a reasonable settlement ... it's the complete opposite, and Government Ministers should have the good grace to at least acknowledge that undeniable fact.

I'll now simply replicate the full 'main text' of our final draft motion for 2017/18 below:

The UK Government remains committed to further years of
public sector austerity, far beyond the timescale originally announced in 2010,
as the Autumn Statement showed. This is the context for the Capital Coalition
budget for 2017-18 which has been substantially shaped by many years of severe
financial constraints and rising demand for Council services.

The Local
Government Finance Settlement, announced on 15 December 2016 by the Scottish
Government, will result in an overall grant funding reduction for Edinburgh of
5.2% (equivalent to £37.1m) in 2017/18 compared to 2016/17, before factoring in
the additional income available from the changes to Council Tax bandings.

When that additional
income from the Scottish Government’s changes to Council Tax bandings E-H is included,
raising some £16.1m, the reduction falls to 2.9%. This level of
reduction is slightly greater than the 2.5% the Council had planned for when
the budget framework was reviewed in September last year. The Scottish Government is also making
available funding from the Education Attainment Fund and there is additional
money for Health and Social Care for the Edinburgh Integrated Joint Board
(EIJB) which will help support local services.
The Capital Coalition has included a 3% Council Tax rise in its
calculations.

Council notes the Scottish Government’s Budget announcement on
Thursday, 2 Feb setting out some revised figures for local authority
revenue and capital funding. Council welcomes the announcement and
notes that any centrally adjusted settlement will be taken into account,
as part of the finally agreed 2017/18 local budget, at the Council
meeting on 9 February.

There
remains, however, a continued need for transformational change and strong
financial management if the Council is to achieve a sustainable budget over the
medium term.

2. Achievements

Despite past and remaining major financial challenges, much
has been achieved by the Council. As we approach the end of the current
administration’s term in office, with the local government elections on 4 May
2017, this is an appropriate time to reflect on the achievements of the Capital
Coalition over the last five years.

Key achievements include:

·Shifting
resources to front-line services, protecting citizens from the full impact
of reduced resources.

·Adopting
an open and transparent approach to budget setting. We have completely
revised the budget process, publishing our draft budget several months in
advance and engaging in extensive budget consultation with the public, giving
citizens a greater voice than ever in deciding and scrutinising how public
money is spent. In response to feedback
from this and previous years’ consultations, the Council has listened and made
significant changes.

·Taking an
open and accountable approach to decision-making. We have webcast all
Council and Executive Committee meetings live, creating a permanent record of Council
debates and decisions which are archived and publicly available for viewing on
the Council website.

·The
establishment of a more powerful audit committee – the Governance, Risk and
Best Value Committee – which is chaired by the opposition, scrutinises key
Council decisions and holds the administration to account.

·Introduced
the Living Wage for all Council staff within nine months of the start of
the Capital Coalition’s term in office, benefitting around 2,500 individuals,
and achieving accreditation as a Living Wage employer in 2016. The Council also
continues to encourage the adoption of the Living Wage by contractors and other
businesses in Edinburgh.

·The
construction and opening of state-of-the-art Wave 3 schools including the
new Portobello and James Gillespie’s High Schools.

·Over
£600m invested in new affordable homes, resulting in 5,234 affordable homes being
completed by the Council or in partnership with housing associations on
brownfield sites across the city. £120 million has also been invested in
improving the quality of existing homes. This investment has included the
delivery of over 14,000 energy efficiency improvements (including heating, new
windows and doors and insulation measures) and over 6,500 kitchen and bathroom
upgrades.

·The
creation of the Edinburgh Guarantee which has directly supported 2,127
additional young people into jobs and apprenticeships with over 500 employers
large and small.

·A new
approach to ensuring that local people are at the heart of Council services
through the Localities structure, with more decision-making power being
progressively devolved to local areas and people.

·The use
of participatory budgeting in localities, empowering local residents to
choose their own budget priorities.

·Completion
of the tram project with the opening of Edinburgh Trams in May 2014.

·A huge
increase in expenditure supporting cycling, amounting to 9% of the
transport budget in 2016/17.

·The
largest energy conservation programme undertaken by the Council through the
RE:FIT scheme and establishment of an arm’s length energy company “Energy for
Edinburgh” which will help to deliver the Sustainable Energy Action Plan, reducing
carbon emissions.

·The
completion of the Atria office development, allowing expansion of the
Conference Centre, providing much-needed Grade A office space and generating a substantial
financial return to the Council, which has allowed the funding of priority
capital projects such as the new Meadowbank Sports Centre.

This highlights just some of the achievements of the Capital
Coalition. At the beginning of the Coalition’s term of office, in May 2012, the
Capital Coalition Agreement set out in an open and transparent manner what it
aimed to achieve through 53 pledges. A report
to Council in December 2016 showed that all of these have been achieved or are
on track. This demonstrates how much progress has been made, even in this
unprecedented and challenging financial climate.

3.Financial
planning and scrutiny

The Council continues to reconcile the combined pressures of
increasing, demographic-led demand, rising expectations, inflation and
legislative reform with a level of resources that has been steadily reducing in
real terms.

Despite these challenges, the Council has:

·Maintained expenditure within budget for nine
successive years;

·Delivered total annual savings of £130m between
2012/13 and 2015/16, with a further £73m substantially on track for delivery in
2016/17; and

·Reduced its overall level of borrowing by £100m
between March 2014 and March 2016.

At the same time as the Council has balanced its budget and
made these unprecedented savings, service improvements continue to be achieved
and successful outcomes delivered.

Audit Scotland has praised the Council’s management of its
resources. Audit Scotland’s 2015/16
Annual Audit Report concluded that the Council’s overall financial management
arrangements continue to be effective.
Audit Scotland further stated that the Council’s longer-term financial
plans go a substantial way towards addressing the financial challenges in the
coming years.

The role of elected members in financial management was also
praised in the Audit Scotland report, which noted that members provide an
effective level of challenge and questioning of budget holders where significant
variances and service performance issues have been identified.

The establishment of the EIJB has been a major change for
Health and Social Care finances. The
majority of the Health and Social Care budget is now delegated to the EIJB,
however the EIJB Chief Officer has a direct line of responsibility to the Chief
Executive and both Councillors and officers are members of the EIJB. This ensures that the Council retains a
critical role in the oversight of the budget.

By setting a balanced budget for 2017/18 and an indicative
balanced budget for 2018/19 as part of the longer-term framework, the Capital
Coalition continues to demonstrate its commitment to prudent financial
planning.

4. Budget engagement

This year, budget engagement focused on building on the
foundations delivered through the Council’s Transformation Programme. The total number of responses received was
1,983 which compares favourably with previous years given that the period of
engagement was slightly shorter at just over seven weeks. The Council will
continue to assess how it engages with the public on the budget.

The success of the campaign builds on previous years’ achievements,
including the innovative use of the budget planner in 2014, which generated the
highest-ever response rate for a UK city using this approach. As a direct result of last year’s
consultation, numerous changes were made including the removal of the proposal
to reduce street crossing patrols, the reinstatement of the night noise team
and maintaining music tuition in schools free of charge.

The responses to this year’s engagement will inform the
Locality Improvement Plans and the development of the Edinburgh 2050 City
Vision.

5. Capital Investment

The Capital Coalition is committed to investing in the
city’s infrastructure and has developed a Capital Investment Programme for the
five years from 2017-22 totalling over £420m. This includes over £40m of
funding for new projects:

·£12m on the refurbishment of North Bridge;

·£12.7m on a new primary school for South
Edinburgh;

·£7.9m contribution to the new Meadowbank Sports
Centre;

·£1.6m for a new care home for older people at Dumbryden;

·£6.7m to address the costs from rising school
rolls; and

·£2.5m investment in roads and bridges.

In addition to the funding for these new projects, the
Council will deliver a programme of capital projects in 2017/18. Some of the
key projects include:

·£16.3m on new schools including Boroughmuir High
School, the replacement of St Crispin’s Special School and a new St John’s RC
Primary School. In total, over £100m
has been invested in Wave 3 schools over the term of the Capital Coalition;

·£8.9m on the Water of Leith flood prevention
scheme;

·£18.5m on roads and pavements;

·£12.5m on street lighting, including £8.7m on
upgrading;

·£2.5m on Leith Walk/Constitution St;

·£11.1m on property asset management works to ensure
our buildings remain fit for purpose; and

·£34.7m on National Housing Trust delivery of
more affordable housing

The Capital Investment Programme also includes £0.6m towards
the early design fees for a new secondary school in Craigmillar with delivery
of a new facility within a five-year programme.

The Council is part of the bid to the Scottish and UK
Governments for the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region for a City
Region Deal. This aims to secure significant investment in infrastructure,
skills and innovation to promote sustainable economic growth and a substantial
increase in new, affordable housing.

At its meeting in June last year, Council agreed the
priorities for the City Region Deal that form the basis of negotiations with
the UK and Scottish Governments. It is expected that a contribution will be
required from the City of Edinburgh Council of up to £100m towards a City
Region Deal. A further report will be considered by Council in the spring.

6. Savings

The Council has undertaken a significant programme of transformation
with the aim of placing greater focus on customers and communities whilst
getting the best value possible from the resources available. Good examples of
savings that have been made without impacting negatively on frontline services
are:

·The reduction in the Council’s debt by around
£100m over the last three years, which has contributed to an overall recurring
annual revenue saving of £10m over the term of the Coalition

·The reduction in consultancy costs of 44% since
2011/12 with further reductions planned in 2017/18

The budget for 2016/17 included around £73m of savings and a
balanced position for the financial year is forecast. The budget for 2017/18 includes just over £40m
of savings which were approved in previous years as part of the Council’s
approach to prudent financial planning. This means that a significant number of
the critical decisions for 2017/18 have already been made.

However, with confirmation of the funding from the Scottish
Government and the emergence of some additional budgetary pressures during the
year, further savings of just over £11m are required. These savings will, in
the main, be met through Council-wide measures such as further reductions in
agency and consultancy spend. Details of new proposals to deliver these savings
have been made available to all political groups within the Council as part of the
open and transparent approach to budget-setting.

Identification of these additional savings has enabled the
Capital Coalition to address:

·Residual budget pressures of some £2.893m within
Communities and Families, allowing additional revenue to remain in both the fostering
service and the adoption service; and

·Residual budget pressures of some £1.551m within
Safer and Stronger Communities, allowing additional revenue to remain in both
CCTV provision and homelessness services.

In addition, scrutiny of officer proposals for plans
previously agreed in principle has reduced the overall level of saving within
the Library Service by over £1m (rejecting some 36% of the initial proposal),
allowing all current facilities to remain open.
Any impact on library usage will now be carefully monitored and kept
under review.

7. Risks
and Challenges

The
Capital Coalition’s proposals have been developed in the context of the risks
and challenges set out in the Acting Executive Director of Resources’ report
included within the supporting papers for today’s meeting.

8. Future
Budget Development

Council
agrees to:

·Continue with implementation of the
Transformation Programme.

·Continue to work with partners to secure funding
for a City Deal for the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region and set
aside up to £1m from the Council Priorities Fund to support further development
of detailed plans.

·Continue with the income maximisation work
stream, with the Chief Executive reporting back progress to Council by June
2017.

·Commission a review by the Chief Executive on a
range of Community Safety initiatives, including the Council’s support to
Police Scotland and the modernisation of the Council’s CCTV system, reporting
back to Council.

9. Conclusions

Council
notes:

·Items 4.1 (b) and 4.2 by the Acting Executive Director
of Resources setting out the Revenue and Capital Budget framework

·Item 4.1 (c) by the Acting Executive Director of
Resources setting out the risks associated with the Revenue Budget framework

·Item 4.2 (d) by the Executive Director of Place
setting out the Housing Revenue Account 2017/22 Budget Strategy

Council
therefore approves:

·The Revenue Budget 2017/18 as set out in the
reports

·A band ‘D’ Council Tax of £1,204.07

·The Council Tax and Rating resolution set out in
Annex 2 to this motion

·The 2017/22 Capital Budget as set out in the
report by the Acting Executive Director of Resources, with the addition of the
new projects set out in Annex 3

·The removal of the Council Tax discount for
Second Homes as set out in item 4.4 by the Acting Executive Director of
Resources

·The schedule of charges for Council services as
set out in Annex 4 to this motion

·The prudential indicators as set out in Annex 5 to this motion

·The recommendation by the Executive Director of
Place to increase rents by 2% and the outline five-year Housing Revenue Account
Capital Programme for 2017/22

Councillor Andrew Burns

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